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This Week In Gaming News

Talk about a very big week in news: you’ve got a video game shattering all entertainment records, along with a wacky crime wave inspired by the very same thing, the latest from the creators of Halo, plus the Madden Curse is back! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg…

[BoxTitle]Modern Warfare 3 Makes Almost Half A Billion On Day One[/BoxTitle] [Trailer]http://heavy.com/games/games-videos/game-trailers/2011/10/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3-is-coming/[/Trailer] [BuyNow]http://www.gamestop.com/collection/modern-warfare-3[/BuyNow]

Not surprisingly, the latest Call of Duty is a smash success. More than 6.5 million people purchased the game on day one across North America and the United Kingdom alone. Many are citing it to be the biggest launch of any entertainment property ever, and some even state that it’s made more money that Star Wars and Lord of the Rings in the box office, two of the most successful movie franchises of all time.

Activision’s Servers Struggle To Keep Up With The Demand
Also not surprisingly, Activision’s brand new Elite service is having a hard time keeping up with the heavy demand of many users wanting to engage in online skirmishes, in a situation that’s similar to EA and its troubles keeping all of its Battlefield 3 players happy. The problem for the most part has been taken care of, though expect isolated outages here and there to be the norm for the foreseeable future.

Demand For Modern Warfare 3 Generates A Crime Wave
Immediately before and during the game’s launch was a series of bizarre crimes across the globe, all centered on people desperate to get their hands on the title. In France, days before its launch, were two separate instances of high volume theft. The first involved a truck being hijacked via tear gas, one carrying 6,000 copies of the game at an estimated value was 400,000 Euros. The second involved an undisclosed number of copies with a net value to be known at 780,000 Euros.

Meanwhile in America, someone in Missouri followed a person who had acquired a copy at a midnight launch to his home and attempted to steal it via gunpoint. But the target actually got into a fight with the would be theft, over control of the weapon, leading the assailant to flee the scene and head back to GameStop, to target another person. He was arrested on the spot. Whereas in Colorado, a person who was pissed that his pre-ordered copy at a Best Buy had been sold to someone else, threatened to murder the employee he had been conversing with, and to burn down the store. He too was arrested and has defended himself by saying he was just joking.

[BoxTitle]Wal-Mart Reveals Its Black Friday Deals[/BoxTitle]

The big box mega chain decided to publish its Thanksgiving holiday savings two weeks in advance, and their video game offerings are definitely worth noting. On the system side, there’s a blue Wii (a shade that may be exclusive to the store) for just $100 (though it should be noted that it’s one of the new modified consoles that gets rid of GameCube compatibility). Those interested in a Xbox 360 instead can pick it up, plus a Kinect, for just $200. The same price goes for a new PlayStation 3. As for games, plenty of great deals are to be found as well, but none more so than Battlefield 3, Gears of War 3, Forza 4, and Arkham City for just $28 each.

Brand New Details Regarding Next Xbox Surface
According to the rumor mills this particular week, the upcoming successor to the Xbox 360 has the codename of “Loop”, which makes a lot of sense, given the three hundred and sixty degree angle the current system relies upon. Though the real news is how it will feature a main processor that’s aided by assisting cores that will take the brunt of the AI, physics, graphics, and the such. Furthermore, it will run a modified version of Windows 9. Considering how 8 isn’t even out yet, and won’t be for sometime… that last bit should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Steam Is The Latest Digital Distribution Network To Be Hacked Into
This past Sunday, hackers broke into the Steam forums and vandalized the place. Though it was just revealed, that the same party also infiltrated the database containing usernames, passwords, and billing info among other things. Apparently, no credit card info or similarly sensitive info was nabbed, but it’s been recommended that all Steam users change their passwords nonetheless.

[BoxTitle]Sony Reveals Its UMD Passport[/BoxTitle]

As noted previously, Sony has indicated that they will allow owners of PSP games to migrate their software onto the Vita for a fee, though details regarding its exact procedure and cost were never outlined. Until now. The UMD Passport is a free application that will allow one to register the games they already own, and then re-acquire them digitally for a fee. Basically, everyone will have to re-purchase their games. Costs will vary, depending on the game, with the lowest price being around $6 and the highest around $31.

More Zelda Remakes On the Way To The 3DS
Shigeru Miyamoto, the primary creative force in Nintendo, reportedly is interested in doing even more 3D remakes of Zelda for their new handheld. But instead of Majora’s Mask or Wind Waker, he wants to redo the 2D classics, like Link To The Past. It’s hard to say at this point if they will be full-blown remakes or simply the original games with added depth to preexisting elements.

BioWare Reveals Their Brand New IP With A Single Screenshot
Many have wondered what the people who brought the world Halo have been working on ever since they cut ties with the franchise. Game Informer were the lucky ones to pass along the first look, albeit a very tiny one, in the form of a single screenshot. Other than the fact that it has a passing resemblance to Uncharted, absolutely nothing else is known, though more will be revealed at next months’ VGAs on Spike TV.

Peyton Hillis’ Injury Indicates The Madden Curse Is A Very Real Thing
Real if you believe in curses, of course. The Cleveland Browns running back’s status is in question due to a busted left hamstring. He’ll be missing his 4th game in a row this upcoming weekend, which some believe is entirely due to the Madden Curse, in which anyone who makes the cover, as Hillis did for this year’s edition, is immediately sidelined due to some freak injury. As has been the case for years now, EA has had no comment.

The fate of the upcoming big screen, Hollywood adaptation of Assassin’s Creed is in serious doubt, due to the fact that game’s maker, Ubisoft, has too much power, even more so than most industry moguls are able to assume usually (with Stephen Spielberg cited as an example). With final say in virtually every single aspect of the movie’s production, from the story to the casting, even the release date, many are afraid to approach the project.